Glossary · 81
Glossary of web, software and marketing terms
Short definitions for terms that come up in proposals, contracts and reports. Each entry explains what the term means in practice and when it matters.
[ 01 ]
Web & development
API (application programming interface)
An API is a documented way for one software system to request data or actions from another. What APIs mean for integrations, what to check before relying on one, and common terms.
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CI/CD (continuous integration and delivery)
CI/CD automates testing and deployment of code changes. What continuous integration and continuous delivery mean, what they give a business, and the minimum setup worth having.
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CMS (content management system)
A content management system lets a team create and update website content without programming. How a CMS works, common types, what to look for and when a custom admin panel is better.
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Frontend and backend
The frontend is what users see and interact with; the backend is the server side that stores data and runs business logic. How they relate and why the distinction matters for projects.
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Headless CMS
A headless CMS manages content and delivers it through an API, while the website or app that displays it is built separately. When the approach helps and what it requires.
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MVP (minimum viable product)
A minimum viable product is the smallest working version of a product that real users can use and that answers a key business question. What goes into an MVP and what does not.
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Progressive web app (PWA)
A progressive web app is a website that can be installed to the home screen, work offline and send notifications. What makes a site a PWA and where it can replace a store app.
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Prototype
A prototype is a clickable model of a website or app used to test structure and flows before development. Types of prototypes, what to test with them and how they differ from an MVP.
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Responsive design
Responsive design makes one website adapt its layout to any screen size, from phones to large monitors. How it works, why it matters and how it differs from mobile-first design.
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Single-page application (SPA)
A single-page application loads once and then updates content in the browser with JavaScript instead of loading new pages. Benefits for interactive tools, and SEO considerations for public sites.
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Staging environment
A staging environment is a private copy of a website or application where changes are tested before release. Why it matters, how to keep it private and what to test there.
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Tech stack
A tech stack is the set of technologies used to build and run software: languages, frameworks, databases, hosting and tools. What it includes and how it affects cost, hiring and maintenance.
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Technical specification
A technical specification describes what a website or software system must do and how, in enough detail to build, estimate and accept it. What it contains and when it is needed.
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UI design (user interface design)
UI design is the visual and interactive layer of a website or app: layout, typography, colour, components and states. How it relates to UX and what good UI delivers.
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User story
A user story describes a software requirement from the user's perspective — who needs what and why — with acceptance criteria. Format, examples and how stories are used in projects.
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UX design (user experience design)
UX design shapes how people accomplish tasks with a product: research, structure, flows, content and usability. What UX work includes and how it affects business results.
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Webhook
A webhook is an automatic message one system sends to another when an event happens, such as a payment or a new order. How webhooks work and how to use them reliably and securely.
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Wireframe
A wireframe is a simplified sketch of a page or screen showing layout and content without visual design. Why wireframes come before design and how to review them.
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[ 02 ]
Search & content
301 redirect
A 301 redirect permanently sends visitors and search engines from an old URL to a new one, transferring most of its signals. When to use it, how it differs from 302, and common mistakes.
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Alt text
Alt text is a text description of an image for screen readers and search engines. How to write useful alt text, when to leave it empty, and alt text on multilingual sites.
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Anchor text
Anchor text is the visible, clickable text of a link. How it helps users and search engines understand the linked page, good practice for internal links and what over-optimisation looks like.
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Backlink
A backlink is a link from another website to yours. Why backlinks matter for search authority, what makes a link valuable, and which link practices violate search engine guidelines.
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Canonical URL
A canonical URL tells search engines which version of a page is the main one when similar content is available at several addresses. When to use canonical tags and common mistakes.
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Core Web Vitals
Core Web Vitals are Google's three user-experience metrics — LCP, INP and CLS — measuring loading, responsiveness and visual stability. Thresholds and where to check your site.
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Crawl budget
Crawl budget is how many pages a search engine is willing and able to crawl on a site in a period. When it matters, what wastes it and how large sites manage it.
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E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authoritativeness, trust)
E-E-A-T is the framework Google's quality raters use to judge content: experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trust. What it means for business websites and how to demonstrate it.
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Generative engine optimisation (GEO)
Generative engine optimisation is the practice of making content and brand information easy for AI assistants and AI search features to find, understand and cite accurately.
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hreflang
hreflang annotations tell search engines which pages are language or regional versions of each other, so the right version appears for each user. Syntax, x-default and common errors.
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Indexing
Indexing is how search engines store pages so they can appear in results. The path from crawling to indexing, why pages are not indexed, and how to check and control indexing.
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Meta description
The meta description is a short summary of a page that search engines may show under the title in results. How it influences clicks and how to write useful descriptions.
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robots.txt
robots.txt is a public file that tells crawlers which parts of a site they may visit. What it controls, what it does not, AI crawler rules and mistakes that block sites from search.
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SEO (search engine optimisation)
SEO is the work of making a website visible in organic search results: technical foundations, useful content and authority. What it covers, how long it takes and what it cannot promise.
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SERP (search engine results page)
A SERP is the page of results a search engine shows for a query: organic results, ads, maps, AI overviews and other features. How SERPs vary and why the layout matters for strategy.
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Structured data (schema markup)
Structured data describes page content in a standard vocabulary (schema.org) so search engines and AI systems understand it: organisations, services, products, articles, FAQs and more.
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Title tag
The title tag is the HTML element that names a page for browsers and search engines, usually shown as the headline in search results. How to write good titles for multilingual sites.
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XML sitemap
An XML sitemap is a file listing the pages you want search engines to find, with optional last-modified dates and language alternates. What to include and how to maintain it.
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[ 03 ]
Marketing & analytics
A/B testing
A/B testing compares two versions of a page, ad or message on real users to see which performs better. How tests work, sample size and duration, and the mistakes that produce false winners.
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Attribution model
An attribution model decides how credit for a conversion is divided among the channels a customer interacted with. Common models, their biases and how to use attribution in decisions.
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CAC (customer acquisition cost)
CAC is the total cost of acquiring a new customer, including marketing and sales. How to calculate it, by channel and overall, and how to compare it with customer lifetime value.
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Conversion rate
Conversion rate is the share of visitors or users who complete a desired action, such as an enquiry or purchase. How to calculate it, what influences it and how to compare it correctly.
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CPA (cost per acquisition)
CPA is the average cost of getting one desired action — a lead, a sale, a sign-up — from advertising. How to define the "acquisition", calculate it and use it to manage budgets.
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CPC (cost per click)
CPC is the price paid for each click on an ad. How CPC is determined in auctions, what drives it up or down, and why the cost per customer matters more than the cost per click.
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CPM (cost per mille)
CPM is the cost of showing an ad one thousand times. When CPM is the right measure, how it relates to reach and frequency, and why it must be read together with outcomes.
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CTR (click-through rate)
CTR is the share of people who click a link, ad or search result after seeing it. How it is calculated, what it reveals about ads and search snippets, and why it is not a business outcome.
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End-to-end analytics
End-to-end analytics connects advertising costs, website behaviour, leads and sales in one chain, so each channel is judged by revenue. What it requires and what it enables.
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GA4 (Google Analytics 4)
GA4 is Google's current web and app analytics platform, built on events. What it measures, key concepts like events and key events, and how it connects to Google Ads and Search Console.
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Lead
A lead is a potential customer who has shown interest and shared contact details. Lead stages from raw enquiry to qualified opportunity, and why defining a "good lead" matters.
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LTV (customer lifetime value)
LTV is the total profit a business expects from a customer over the whole relationship. Simple formulas for purchases and subscriptions, and how LTV guides marketing and retention decisions.
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Remarketing (retargeting)
Remarketing shows ads to people who already interacted with your website, app or social profiles. How audiences are built, typical uses, frequency limits and privacy requirements.
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ROAS (return on ad spend)
ROAS is revenue generated per unit of advertising spend. How to calculate it, why margin and attribution matter, and how ROAS relates to profitability and customer lifetime value.
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Sales funnel
A sales funnel describes the stages a potential customer passes through, from first awareness to purchase, and how many drop out at each. How to map and measure a funnel and use it to find problems.
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Server-side tracking
Server-side tracking sends analytics and conversion events from your server instead of only from the visitor's browser, improving completeness and control. How it works and privacy obligations.
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UTM parameters
UTM parameters are tags added to links to tell analytics which source, medium and campaign brought a visitor. The five parameters, naming rules and why consistency matters.
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[ 04 ]
Apps & software
AI agent
An AI agent is a system that uses a language model to plan and carry out multi-step tasks with tools, such as searching data or updating systems. Business uses, risks and controls.
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Chatbot
A chatbot is software that converses with users in a chat interface — on a website or in messengers — to answer questions or complete tasks. Types of chatbots and where they help businesses.
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CRM (customer relationship management)
A CRM is a system for managing contacts, leads, deals and communications with customers. What a CRM does, common options in Azerbaijan, integrations and what makes adoption succeed.
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ERP (enterprise resource planning)
An ERP system manages core business operations — finance, inventory, purchasing, production, HR — in one integrated database. How ERP relates to CRM, websites and 1C in Azerbaijan.
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LLM (large language model)
A large language model is an AI model trained on vast text to understand and generate language. What LLMs can do for businesses, their limitations, costs and data considerations.
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Multi-tenancy
Multi-tenancy is an architecture in which one software system serves many customer organisations, each seeing only its own data. Approaches, security considerations and why it must be decided early.
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No-code and low-code
No-code and low-code tools let people build workflows, apps and websites with visual interfaces instead of programming. Where they fit, their limits and how to avoid problems as usage grows.
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Push notifications
Push notifications are messages sent by apps or websites to a user's device, even when the app is not open. Types, permission rules on iOS and Android, web push, and good practice.
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RAG (retrieval-augmented generation)
RAG is a technique in which an AI system first retrieves relevant passages from your documents and then generates an answer from them. How it works, why it reduces invented answers and its limits.
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SaaS (software as a service)
SaaS is software delivered over the internet by subscription, hosted and maintained by the provider. How SaaS works, its advantages and trade-offs for buyers, and what building a SaaS product involves.
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[ 05 ]
Security & infrastructure
Backup
A backup is a copy of data and systems that can be restored after loss, failure or attack. What to back up, the 3-2-1 rule, recovery objectives and why restores must be tested.
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CDN (content delivery network)
A CDN delivers website files from servers close to each visitor, making pages faster and absorbing traffic spikes and attacks. How a CDN works and what to configure.
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DDoS attack
A DDoS attack floods a website or service with traffic from many sources to make it unavailable. Types of attacks, who gets targeted and how businesses protect themselves.
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DNS (domain name system)
DNS translates domain names into the addresses of servers and services: website, email, verification records. Common record types, TTL, and why DNS changes break email.
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Domain name
A domain name is your organisation's address on the internet, such as example.az. How domains are structured, registered and renewed, and how to keep control of your company's domain.
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PCI DSS
PCI DSS is the security standard for organisations that handle payment card data. Who it applies to, how hosted payment pages reduce the burden, and what merchants remain responsible for.
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Penetration testing
Penetration testing is an authorised simulated attack on a system to find exploitable vulnerabilities. How it differs from a security audit, types of tests, scope and when a business needs one.
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SLA (service level agreement)
An SLA defines the level of service a provider commits to: availability, response and resolution times, support hours and what happens when targets are missed. What to include for website and IT support.
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SPF, DKIM and DMARC
SPF, DKIM and DMARC are DNS-based email authentication standards that protect a domain from spoofing and improve deliverability. What each does and how they work together.
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SSL/TLS certificate
An SSL/TLS certificate enables HTTPS, encrypting traffic between visitors and your website and proving the site controls its domain. Types, renewal, and common problems.
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Two-factor authentication (2FA)
Two-factor authentication requires a second proof of identity in addition to a password, such as an app code or security key. Methods, where to enable it and how to handle recovery.
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Uptime
Uptime is the share of time a website or service is available and working. How uptime is measured, what availability percentages mean in hours of downtime, and how to improve it.
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WAF (web application firewall)
A web application firewall filters HTTP traffic to a website, blocking common attacks such as injection and malicious bots. How a WAF works, its limits and how to tune it.
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Web hosting
Web hosting is the service of running your website or application on servers connected to the internet. Types of hosting, what a hosting plan should include and what stays your responsibility.
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[ 06 ]
Azerbaijan-specific
ASAN İmza (mobile electronic signature)
ASAN İmza is Azerbaijan's mobile electronic signature and identification service, based on a special SIM card. What it is used for by businesses and how it relates to software projects.
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E-qaimə (electronic invoice in Azerbaijan)
E-qaimə (elektron qaimə-faktura) is Azerbaijan's mandatory electronic invoice, created and registered through the State Tax Service's portal and signed with an electronic signature.
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SİMA İmza (biometric digital signature app)
SİMA İmza is an Azerbaijani mobile app for digital signatures that combines cryptographic keys with face biometrics. Who developed it, how it works and its role for businesses.
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VÖEN (taxpayer identification number in Azerbaijan)
VÖEN is the taxpayer identification number used in Azerbaijan for companies and registered individuals. Where it is needed, how to use it in invoices and B2B checkouts, and validation tips.
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[ 07 ]
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